I'll Forever Be There
by PePaMiNt-sTiNg
Summary: Ellie's been driven into something she never wanted. She hates that this is the only thing that takes the pain away. When an unexpected friend discovers her secret, he brings a new outlet into her life. May be triggering.
1. Anxiety

The clock ticked its endless tick. It always ticked. Ellie felt anxious as a result of it. It made her feel like she was on some time limit. She glanced around the room at the other kids. They were all absorbed in their test. She couldn't handle it. None of these questions made sense to her. It felt like she'd never even been introduced to this material. A failing grade was inevitable.  
After class, Marco approached Ellie in the hallway. "I think I aced it!" He exclaimed. She nodded to be polite and continued walking alongside Marco, not really paying attention to him. "Today has been great," he went on. "I love birthdays." He hinted to her.  
Ellie stopped dead in her tracks, remembering. "Oh God Marco...I'm really sorry, I completely forgot..." She felt terrible.  
"It's okay," he shrugged a little disappointed. Marco had hoped she'd be waiting until the end of the day to try and make him beleive she forgot, and then really end up doing something great. "I understand."  
"I...I..." Ellie's voice drifted off, as Marco and her separated ways in the hallway. She sighed, took a deep breath and continued walking. Although, she wasn't looking where she was going and soon ran into somone. "Sorry..." She started.  
An obnoxious laugh met her apology. "Hon, you might want to watch where you're walking next time. I don't associate with the dark side, remember?" It was Paige.  
Ellie just shook her head and kept walking towards her locker which she shared with Ashley. She was secretly releived that Ashley wasn't there when she arrived. "It'll make for a quick exit," she thought. Ellie opened the locker, and started gathering the books into her backpack. She was about to shut it and leave when a familiar voice stopped her.  
"Ellie! Wait!" Ashley called from a ways down the hall. Ellie sighed and waited for her friend. Ashley neared and and gave an exasperated smile. "Where have you been all day?? You're suddenly the hardest person to reach!" She joked, gathering her things into her backpack. "I looked for you at lunch but you weren't there." Ashley waited for an explanation which Ellie had hoped not to have to give.  
"I uh...I had to go to the computer lab to do some research for my English paper." She lied, but thankfully Ashley bought it.  
"Oh alright, well, do you want to do something? I was thinking we could go check out that new music store at the mall."  
Ellie hesitated. "I..well...I really have a lot of homework to be doing...the teachers just piled it on today," She told Ashley, trying to sound let down.  
"But...it's Friday..." Ashley told her, realizing that Ellie was acting a bit stranger. "If you don't want to thats fi-" Ellie cut her off.  
"You're right...I have the whole weekend for homework. Let's go."  
"Great," Her best friend told her. "We can drop our backpacks off at my house." Together they walked out of Degrassi High, towards Ashley's house. 


	2. Jealous?

Craig stared at his cell phone, unable to make up his mind. Should he do it? Or should he wait? Jimmy rolled his eyes and sighed. "Come on man...just do it. You're not going to get anything done just staring at it."  
"I know...I know...Ash is going to hate me though. I don't want her to hate me but..."  
"She'll get over it. Girls are so hypersensitive anyways. This is highschool and you need to live it out. If she's holding you down, don't let her."  
Craig took a deep breath. "You're right..." He dialed her number and waited. The moment he heard her voice on the line, his heart ached. Craig hated to do this. "Uh..Ash hey...it's me..umm can I meet you somewhere? I need to talk to you....oh you are?...Do you think she'd mind hanging out with Jimmy at the mall for a few minutes while we talk?..." Jimmy looked at Craig with a confused face. "...Alright...see you there in a few..." Craig hung up.  
"What's up?" Asked Jimmy.  
"She's with Ellie, they were going to go to the mall together. Ashley said they could meet us there in about ten minutes. Would you be cool hanging with Ellie just for a few while I talk to Ash?" Craig looked at Jimmy hopefully and was relieved when he nodded.  
"Yeah I guess so...I don't really know what we'll talk about but..." He shrugged "sure whatever."  
"Thanks."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*  
  
"Ready Ellie?" Ashley shouted through the bathroom door.  
"Yeah, just a minute alright?" Ellie looked down at her arm, sighing. Why did this make her feel better? It was really...disgusting. She shook her head and ran her arm under warm water, watching the blood flow away, down the drain. Against her arm, the towel felt soft, almost too comforting. Ellie swung the door open after pulling her sleeve down and walked out meeting Ashley. "What's Craig want to talk to you about?" She inquired.  
Ashley shrugged. "Who knows? We haven't really talked much lately. I think I know where it's going and really I'm fine with it." She looked over to her friend and smiled. "Besides...don't tell but I kind of miss Jimmy."  
Ellie laughed and shook her head. "You're crazy Ash...you and all of your boyfriends." They walked out of the house towards the mall, Ellie secretly feeling a bit jealous. The closest thing to a boyfriend she'd ever had was Marco. That was a big lie though, the whole thing had been. Pushing the thoughts away from her mind, Ellie walked on in silence. 


	3. Another Encounter

Ellie and Ashley met the boys right inside the mall. For a moment, they all stood in akward silence. Then, Jimmy spoke. "Well, I guess we'll leave you two to talk...ready Ellie?" He looked towards her and she nodded. They walked off together through the crowded mall. Ellie looked around at all of the happy shoppers. Smiles on their faces, bags in their hands, and not a care in the world. She was secretly envious of every one of them. "So how've you been Ellie?" Jimmy asked, not knowing what else to say.  
"I've been okay thanks, and you?" She didn't really want to be here, she hated the way the mall always got so crowded after school, especially on Fridays.  
"Me? Oh I've been pretty good myself." They walked some more, passing up the escalators and the fashion show at the center of the mall. Both felt akward, realizing they had nothing in common. Well, nothing but one thing. "Hey, wanna check out that new music store? I hear it's supposed to be really great." Ellie nodded and they made their way into the store, which was of course packed.  
The two of them looked around, not really saying anything to each other, just trying to pass the time. The one thing that Ellie had on her mind was making her very anxious. Jimmy noticed and asked if she was okay. "Yeah..yeah I'm fine." She lied.  
Jimmy shrugged and backed up, bumping into someone. He turned around to say sorry, but the person just laughed. "Watch out Jimmy." The voice of Paige sounded. Ellie cringed and tried to hid behind a keychain rack. Paige spotted her despite that. She laughed her annoying laugh. "Jimmy, here on a date with the dark side? Didn't know you went that way."  
"Shut up Paige," Just as Ellie thought he may be trying to stop her, he finished his sentence. "You know I'd never date her." This sent Paige into a fit of giggles. Hazel, who stood behind her tried not to laugh herself.  
Ellie glared at the three of them and made a quick exit from the store. She swerved through the crowds of people, and again went past the escalators and the fashion show, and eventually she passed Craig and Ashley who now laughed and talked with ease. Craig saw her storming out, and pointed. Ashley sighed and they stood to follow her. "Ellie! Stop!" Ashley cried out to her. She slowed and turned to them, wanting to cry, but not doing so. "What happened?" Ashley asked.  
"Nothing," She lied.  
"Come on Ellie, what happened? And where'd Jimmy go?" Craig responded.  
"He's probably in there with Paige and Hazel, making more jokes towards me." Ashley and Craig sighed in desperation.  
"Here, Craig, why don't you walk Ellie home? I'll go find Jimmy." Ashley told him. "Ellie, I'll call you later, okay?" They both nodded to Ashley and walked off towards Ellie's house.  
It was silent for awhile, when Craig spoke. "Yeah, if you were wondering what all that was about, Ashley and I broke up."  
"Oh...wow I'm sorry Craig."  
"Nah, don't be...her and Jimmy were always meant to be anyways, you know?" Ellie smiled and nodded and Craig continued. "You know, you shouldn't let Paige get to you so much. She's really powerless if you think about it."  
She sighed. "No...it's not that. I mean...well, it is, but...nevermind."  
"No, please go on." Ellie was in a new position. Usually nobody ever wanted to hear what she had to say. Even Ashley never really seemed to care or urge her. She shrugged it off though, deciding he was just trying to be nice and make conversation.  
"It's nothing, really." Craig didn't press anymore. Another silence hung in the air for awhile.  
"So...do you maybe wanna hang out for a little while? I mean since...Ashley and Jimmy are off in their own little world...I mean, if you want."  
Ellie pondered for a moment, then realized she'd never hung out with Craig a lot before. "Sure." He smiled and then led the way to his house. 


End file.
